AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) Shares Purchased by Wellington Management Group LLP

Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) by 49.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,488,975 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 828,009 shares during the quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP owned about 1.75% of AvalonBay Communities worth $547,500,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in AvalonBay Communities during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,499,050,000. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,245,028 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,097,971,000 after buying an additional 196,938 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 51.7% in the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 554,290 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $121,927,000 after buying an additional 188,906 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities in the fourth quarter valued at $35,153,000. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in AvalonBay Communities during the fourth quarter valued at about $23,513,000. 92.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AVB has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $226.00 to $229.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $270.00 to $265.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Mizuho upgraded AvalonBay Communities from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $239.00 to $242.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Zelman & Associates raised AvalonBay Communities from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their target price on AvalonBay Communities from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $238.64.

AvalonBay Communities Stock Performance

AVB stock opened at $214.73 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $217.43 and a 200 day simple moving average of $222.27. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a 52 week low of $177.40 and a 52 week high of $239.29. The stock has a market cap of $30.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.29, a P/E/G ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a current ratio of 1.64.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.83 by ($0.03). AvalonBay Communities had a net margin of 37.13% and a return on equity of 9.15%. Research analysts anticipate that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 11.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AvalonBay Communities Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $1.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This is an increase from AvalonBay Communities’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.70. This represents a $7.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.26%. AvalonBay Communities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 92.23%.

About AvalonBay Communities

AvalonBay Communities, Inc is a real estate investment trust, which engages in the development, acquisition, ownership, and operation of multifamily communities. It operates through the following segments: Same Store, Other Stabilized, and Development or Redevelopment. The Same Store segment refers to the operating communities that were owned and had stabilized occupancy.